At the beginning of any project, it's always best to define the goals. In the case of keyword research, the goals are to attract qualified traffic to the web site and (in the case of ecommerce sites) to convert visitors into paying customers. Notice that the goal is twofold: the first part involves pleasing search engines, and the second part involves pleasing people. Successful search engine marketers perform well on both of these fronts.

Compiling an Initial Keyword List

The first step in creating a good keyword list for a web site is to assemble a rough list that can then be refined through a selection process. The initial list can be created using a variety of simple techniques:

• Evaluate your competitors' web sites to get an idea of the kinds of keywords they have targeted. This can be done easily by looking at the source code of your competitor's home page and studying the keywords contained within the Meta Keyword tag. If you have a copy of WebPosition software, the Meta keywords can be conveniently extracted from the source code of any web site.
• Based on your own knowledge of the web site topic, add any keywords you think might be relevant. Imagine that you are somebody using the internet to find information, and add the keywords you might type into a search engine.
• Use a keyword research tool like WordTracker to generate related keywords and phrases based upon an initial keyword search. Try several different keywords as a starting point, and you should find a broad list of related keywords.
• Create new keyword phrases by combining keywords in the list into combinations that seem to make sense, and might plausibly be typed into a search engine. A spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel is useful to help create and organize these various keyword combinations.
• Search the major search engine like Yahoo!, Google, or MSN for the top keywords on the list to find web sites that are already ranking well for those keywords. Study these sites and look for new ideas for keywords as well as potential content for your own site.

At this point, the list is probably much larger than expected, and you are wondering which of these keywords are most likely to drive relevant traffic to your site. It's time to refine the list by weeding out keywords that may attract the wrong types of visitors, or not generate much traffic at all.

Refining the Keyword List

Now that the initial list has been compiled, some additional research needs to be done. Using a keyword research tool like WordTracker, determine how many times each keyword has been typed into search engines. Keep in mind that these numbers indicate how popular keywords are, but the most popular words are not necessarily the best. First, remove any keywords from the list that have very low popularity numbers. Evaluate each of the more popular keywords by taking the following points into consideration:

• How much competition is there for the keyword?
  If the keyword in question has a million other web sites competing for the top position, it will be difficult to achieve good results. Often words that are very popular may be far too general to be of value. For example, if you are a real estate agent, you would not want to optimize for a general phrase like "real estate", since there are so many competing sites and the phrase is so general it could refer to real estate anywhere in the world. You would be much better off using phrases that limit the search to the area you work in ("Oregon real estate" or "Portland Oregon real estate"). WordTracker will display the number of competing pages for each keyword, and also calculate a useful parameter called the Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) which takes into account both the popularity and the competition for the keyword. Use this information to locate keywords that are popular, but do not have an overwhelming amount of competition.
• Does the keyword address where the customer is in the buying process?
  The most relevant keywords are those that have a high liklihood of converting a visitor to a paying customer. Often, the keywords typed into a search engine reflect whether the searcher is ready to make a purchase, or whether they are simply looking for information about a topic. Be sure to include keywords in your list that will capture these potential customers. For example, somebody who types "digital camera prices" into a search engine is probably closer to making a purchase than the person who simply types "digital cameras". You will find many variations of keywords related to your web site topic that provide clues about where the searcher is in the buying process.
• Use a web analytics tool like WebTrends to gather additional information.
  If you have a web analytics tool available for your web site, then use the data it has gathered for referring URLs. The referring URLs will let you know what keywords people have actually typed into search engines to find your site in the past. Try to locate any patterns in this data, such as keywords that may relate to a current event for example. If your web site has a built in search feature that allows users to search your own web site for content, then analyze that information as well. The keywords that your own visitors type into your local site search engine are often valuable keywords that can be used within your web site content to attract visitors to your site.

Now that the keyword list has been refined to contain only the best keywords based on your research, it's time to integrate these keywords into your content. This is where your knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing will be put to use. First, use your SEO skills to place the keywords in the appropriate sections of the page. These include the Title tag, Meta elements, Header, Body, Links, and Alt text in your image tags. A tool such as WebPosition's Page Critic is useful at this stage. It provides information about the keyword frequency, prominence and other factors typically found in other pages already ranking well in the search engines. By emulating the keyword statistics of high ranking pages, you are improving the liklihood that your page will also be ranked well on search engines.

Create Compelling Copy for your Web Pages

Knowing where to place keywords and at what frequency is only half the battle. These considerations are of course important to achieve high rankings in search engines, but it's equally important to remember that your web site is there for the benefit of human beings. Good marketers realize that the style of language chosen often strongly affects a potential customer's course of action. If you write good copy that appeals to your customers, then your web site visitors are more likely to become customers.

If you find that you're having trouble using the keywords in the right context, then try creating new content that fits the keywords. Create resources that may not apply directly to the sale you are trying to make, but a potential customer might still find useful in some way. For example, if your online business sells gardening tools and supplies online, then you might consider publishing informational articles related to gardening. This kind of valuable content can attract visitors to your web site initially, and appeal to their positive feelings about gardening in general. If the visitor finds something useful on your web site, and in general has a positive experience navigating through the site, then its more likely that they will convert to a customer.

Conclusion

Conducting proper keyword research is a critical component of effective search engine marketing. Before spending time optimizing your web site content, be sure to do the necessary research to identify a list of keywords most likely to drive relevant traffic to your web site.